Author: Zhu Qingyu Dynasty: Tang Genre: Qijue Author's biography: Zhu Qingyu (date of birth and death unknown) was born in Yuezhou (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). He was a Jinshi in the second year of Baoli (826) and was an official secretary of the Provincial School. Shulang, a master of poetics, has modern style and excellent workmanship, is clear and simple, and is ingenious and moving. There is "Collection of Poems by Zhu Qingyu". Content: The red candles were lit in the bridal chamber last night, waiting to pay homage to my aunt in front of the Xiaotang Hall. After putting on makeup, she asked her husband in a low voice, "How dark is the eyebrows?" Translation: The bridal chamber was lit up with candles and flowers all night long, waiting for dawn to pay homage to my parents-in-law. After dressing up, I asked my husband gently: Is my eyebrow painting thick or light according to the fashion? Appreciation: Zhu Qingyu was appreciated by Zhang Ji, and Zhang Ji was willing to recommend his juniors. So Zhu Qingyu wrote this poem to him before taking the exam to ask for his opinions. The whole poem is based on the three words "when there is no time" as its soul. If the bride is dressed to impress, it is best to ask the groom first if she can please her parents-in-law. The meaning of such a carefully asked question is self-explanatory and amazing. Zhang Ji replied in the poem "Rewarding Zhu Qingyu": "The Yue girl appears in new makeup, and she knows that she is bright and beautiful, and she is more thoughtful. Qi Wan was not rich enough when he was rich, and he could defeat thousands of gold with his rhyme song." He compared the Zhu family to Yuezhou. The girl collecting water chestnuts in Jinghu Lake is not only beautiful and charming, but also has a wonderful singing voice, which is unmatched by other Yue girls dressed in precious silk. The literati respected each other, the rewards and responses were wonderful, and the stories were well-known throughout the ages, and they were famous in the poetry world. Comparing the love relationship between husband and wife or men and women to other social relationships such as monarch and minister, friends, teachers and students, is a traditional expression technique that began to appear in Chinese classical poetry from "Chu Ci" and has been developed since. This poem is also written in this way. This poem is also titled "Recent Examination on Zhang Shuibu". This other title can help readers understand the meaning of the poem. In the Tang Dynasty, scholars who were applying for the Jinshi imperial examination had the custom of writing papers to celebrities in the hope of their praise and introduction to the Minister of Rites who presided over the examination. The recipient of Zhu Qingyu's poem was Zhang Ji, a doctor in the Ministry of Water Resources. At that time, Zhang Ji was as famous as Han Yu for being good at literature and willing to promote the underachievers. Zhu Qingyu wrote papers for him on weekdays, and had already gained his appreciation. When the exam was about to take place, he was still afraid that his work might not meet the requirements of the examiner, so he compared himself to the bride, the groom to the groom, and the examiner to his parents-in-law, and wrote this A poem to ask for Zhang Ji's opinion. It was an ancient custom that the bride would get married the night before, and the bride would not meet her parents-in-law until early the next morning. The focus of this poem's description is her mental state before going to see him. The first sentence is written as marriage. The bridal chamber refers to the new house. Stop, place. Stopping the red candle means leaving the red candle burning all night long. The second sentence says goodbye. Since the visit was an important event, she got up early, dressed up in the light of red candles, and waited for dawn so that she could go to the hall to salute. At this time, she couldn't help but mutter in her heart, was her dress very fashionable? In other words, can you please your parents-in-law? Therefore, the second half will be written about her words and deeds based on this mood. After carefully putting on my makeup and drawing my eyebrows, I still felt unsure, so I had to ask my husband for his opinion. Since she was a bride, of course she was a little shy, and it was hard to say this out loud for others to hear, so this low-pitched question became extremely reasonable. This kind of writing is really meticulous and detailed. Merely as "boudoir thoughts", this poem is already very complete, beautiful and moving. However, the author's original intention is to express his unique feelings as an exam candidate when facing an exam related to his political future. Uneasiness and anticipation. For the intellectuals at that time, taking the imperial examination was as important as a girl getting married. If you pass the exam, you will have a very bright future; otherwise, you may be stuck for the rest of your life. This is just like a woman who marries into another family. If she is loved by her husband and parents-in-law, her status will be stable and her situation will be smooth. Otherwise, her life will be very difficult. The poet's comparison comes from real social life and is very typical under the historical conditions at that time. Even today, we can't help but marvel at his skill of killing two birds with one stone. The poem presented by Zhu Qingyu received a clear answer from Zhang Ji. In "Rewarding Zhu Qingyu", he wrote: "The Yue girl appears in new makeup, knowing that she is bright and beautiful, and she is more thoughtful. When Qi Wan was not young, people were noble, and a single poem was worth thousands of gold." Because Zhu's gift poems use analogy style was written, so Zhang's answer poem was also the same. In this poem, he compares Zhu Qingyu to a girl named Lingcai. She is beautiful and has a good singing voice. Therefore, she must be praised by people, implying that he does not need to worry about this exam. The first sentence describes the girl's identity and appearance. She is a girl collecting water chestnuts from Yuezhou. At this time, she had just dressed up and appeared in the middle of Jinghu Lake, picking water chestnuts and singing. The second sentence describes her mood. Of course she knew she was beautiful and radiant. But because the hobby was too much, I started to ponder again. (Shen Yin originally means contemplation and chanting, and it is extended to mean secretly thinking and thinking.) Zhu Qingyu was from Yuezhou (now Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province). Yuezhou was home to many beauties, and Jinghu Lake was a famous attraction there. Therefore, Zhang Ji compared her to a Yue girl who appeared in the center of the mirror. These two sentences are in response to the last two sentences in Zhu's poem, "new makeup" is opposite to "thrush", and "more thoughtful" is opposite to "in time without". In the second half, he further affirmed her outstanding talents and said: Although there are many other girls wearing clothes made of precious silk produced in Qidi (today's Shandong Province), they are not worthy of people's attention. On the contrary, this Miss Cai Ling's beaded throat is really worth ten thousand gold. This further dispels Zhu Qingyu's concerns about "being in the current situation", so he specifically uses "people of the time" to compare with him.
Zhu's gift poem was well written, and Zhang's answer was wonderful. It was a perfect match, and it has been a legend in the poetry world for thousands of years.